Former Wolves footballer Mo Camara asks to extend Tettenhall wine bar’s opening hours
A wine bar owned by a former Wolves player has asked for permission to open later while being under investigation over noise complaints.
Chill Wine Bar in Tettenhall, owned by former Wolverhampton Wanderers defender Mo Camara, has asked for permission to open half an hour later until 1am and play live and recorded music until 12.30am.
The bar, which opened in the village’s High Street in 2017, had its licence suspended for a month following a hearing in July last year for allowing a number of lock-ins.
Mr Camara was also removed as the bar’s supervisor after allowing drinks to be served to a packed bar on consecutive weekends in February and again in March – despite a warning from the council – but was allowed to remain as the venue’s licence holder.
City of Wolverhampton Council said it had no objection to the addition of a first-floor function room at the wine bar but did have concerns over the venue requesting to extend its opening hours.
The council’s environmental health department said there were historic and current complaints about late-night noise at the venue which were being investigated.
The council’s licensing committee meets on December 9 to make a decision. This comes after the council requested a review of the venue’s licence last month.
West Midlands Police also objected to the application saying it did not support plans to remove door staff on Friday and Saturday evenings in favour of ‘risk-assessed’ appointments.
Cllr Jonathan Crofts, who represents the Tettenhall Wightwick ward, said he had been continuing to receive complaints from residents since May this year over continued noise at Chill Wine Bar.
“It is of great concern that there appears to have been continuing issues with the premises on a number of occasions particularly Saturday nights and Sunday mornings even though there was a full review called in 2024 and that another full review has just been called for,” he said in an objection.
In another objection, a Tettenhall neighbour sad there had been a “history of disregard for local residents from people visiting the bar.”
“We don’t blame the owner but loud music, trouble, inconsiderate parking, shouting, swearing already goes on so extending the operating hours will make matters worse for local residents,” the objection read.
“We live the other end of the high street and already put up with the issues. It’s also worth noting we have a lot of elderly residents in the village. Whilst we are happy to have a bar in the village, we need to be considerate to all local residents.”
The licensing hearing in 2024 heard how many revellers in Tettenhall would finish their nights at Mr Camara’s bar after leaving nearby pubs at midnight.
The wine bar then agreed to cut its closing time by half an hour to align with nearby pubs to prevent it from drawing crowds looking to grab a ‘quick’ drink.
Ahead of the hearing, licensing officers at City of Wolverhampton Council had called for Mr Camara to be removed as the bar’s supervisor and for the licence to be suspended for up to three months.
Lisa Richardson-Lewty, who represented Mr Camara at the hearing, said the former footballer had made “poor management decisions” and the wine bar was now employing an “established and knowledgeable” supervisor that was a “considered choice and not just a name on a piece of paper.”
She said the wine bar could not afford to close for three months and was happy to remove Mr Camara as the licence holder if necessary.
The council’s licensing manager Greg Bickerdike dismissed claims that only ‘soft’ drinks had been served after hours as “fanciful at best” and criticised Mr Camara for staying open when he should not have – and again after a warning.
“If he is not capable of understanding ‘don’t open past these hours’ then I don’t know what hope we have for the rest of the conditions being implemented correctly,” he told the hearing.
Mr Camara was warned by the council and given 14 days to provide the CCTV footage – recordings the council said were “incomplete” when handed over.
Another complaint that the venue was open after hours again on March 18, despite the warning, was later confirmed by CCTV.
Mo Camara played 45 times for Wolves in the early 2000s in a spell that saw the Guinea international become a cult hero at Molineux.
He also made appearances for Celtic, Burnley and Derby.
